Nevada’s Dedication to Transparency in Government
Tyler Tech Podcast Episode 100, Transcript
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Show Notes:
On this episode of the Tyler Tech Podcast, Tyler’s director of State Data Solutions, Elliot Flautt, sits down with Nevada state Controller Andy Matthews to discuss his inspiring journey through public service and his unwavering commitment to government transparency. Andy reflects on his early career in political campaigns, his path to the Nevada State Assembly, and everything that led him to his role as state controller.
Andy shares the story behind his successful campaign to bring accountability and transparency to state spending, highlighted by the launch of the Nevada Open Finance Portal — a groundbreaking initiative created in partnership with Tyler Technologies. This innovative platform provides taxpayers with unprecedented access to detailed government expenditure data. Andy understands the critical role of modern technology in transforming state financial systems and offers practical insights into the strategic decisions involved in selecting and implementing cloud-based solutions.
We also detail our latest white paper about the five main risks of legacy systems. You can download that here: Is Your Legacy Digital Infrastructure Putting You at Risk?
Learn more about the topics discussed in this episode with these resources:
And you can listen to other episodes of the podcast at this link: www.tylertech.com/resources/podcast
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Transcript
Andy Matthews: As those different services modernize, not only is the experience gonna be enhanced for the state employees to have to work with that system, we're gonna be doing a great service to the public by, you know, making sure that the public experience or, you know, those who use those services, in that, like, in that public facing way, that's going to be, greatly enhanced because, you know, ultimately, the that's why you have government. Right?
We're we're here to sort of serve the public, especially at the state and local level.
Josh Henderson: From Tyler Technologies, it's The Tyler Tech Podcast, your source for insightful conversations with thought leaders addressing the pressing issues in our communities.
I'm Josh Henderson, and I'm on the corporate marketing team here at Tyler. Thanks for joining us.
In each episode, we dive into the essential topics shaping our society and shed light on the individuals, places, and technologies empowering the public sector. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a five-star rating and review, subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and recommending the show to others.
On today's episode, Tyler's director of State Data Solutions, Elliot Flautt, sits down with Nevada state controller, Andy Matthews, to explore his remarkable journey in public service and his commitment to government transparency.
Andy shares insights from his early career in political campaigns and his pivotal role at the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a think tank organization that championed limited government and free market-oriented solutions to public policy, and discover how that led him to run for office, ultimately serving in the Nevada State Assembly and now as the state controller.
Andy highlights his successful campaign to promote accountability and transparency in state spending and tells Elliott all about the Nevada Open Finance Portal, a groundbreaking initiative launched in partnership with Tyler, providing taxpayers with unprecedented access to detailed information on government expenditures. Andy also discusses the importance of leveraging modern technology, such as cloud based solutions, to enhance state financial systems.
He offers valuable insights into the practical steps and strategic decision making involved in selecting and implementing these technologies, promoting a forward-thinking approach to state governance.
This is a wonderful chat between Elliot and Andy. So, without further ado, let's get to their conversation. We hope you enjoy the episode.
Elliot Flautt: Thanks for joining me, Andy. How are you doing today?
Andy Matthews: Doing great, Elliot. It's good to be here with you.
Elliot Flautt: Likewise. Likewise. Well, let's go ahead and get things kicked off. I know that you've had, like, a super interesting career up until this point. And I'm kinda curious if you could tell our listeners a little bit about your background and your journey to becoming, where you coming where you currently sit, in the state of Nevada. And, yeah. Let's start there.
Andy Matthews: Sure. You know, I when I was younger, in my twenties, I worked on political campaigns for a couple of years, but my interest was always really more in the public policy aspect of things. And for about eight years, I worked at an organization called the Nevada Policy Research Institute, which is a, of course, Nevada based free market think tank that promotes sort of limited government, free market, oriented solutions to public policy challenges. And I served as president of that group for the last, four years there.
This would have been from about two thousand eleven to two thousand and fifteen. And it was a great experience. You know, really enjoyed it. We we worked a lot on fiscal issues and did some stuff with education policy, government transparency, which we'll come back to, was a big part of our mission.
And over time, you know, the idea behind the organization was that, you know, you put out these policy recommendations, and then hopefully policymakers take those ideas and put them into practice. Of course, that's the idea. That isn't always how it it ends up playing out. And I was sort of growing frustrated, over time that, you know, I really didn't see sort of the impact that despite the great work that the organization was doing, you know, I really felt like we needed a change in the direction of, you know, what was going on in terms of what we were getting from our elected officials.
And I finally came to the conclusion, hey. If we're gonna change, policies, maybe we gotta change policymakers.
I ran unsuccessfully, actually, for the US Congress in twenty sixteen, but ended up, coming back and and running in twenty twenty, for the Nevada State Assembly. And I got elected, and served for, you know, one term in the state assembly. And my priority there, we were in the you know, I'm a Republican, so we were in a minority party, here in Nevada. But, you know, I had a lot of bills that, you know, really would have done, in my view, a lot to further the cause of government accountability, government transparency, something that's always been a passion of mine.
Unfortunately, those bills didn't get passed, didn't really go too far, you know, such as is life in the political minority sometimes, and that's okay, that's the process. But, I ran for state controller, in two thousand and twenty two and ended up, you know, winning that race. And I really ran on a platform of, you know, vote for me, elect me, and I wanna, make it my top priority to promote government transparency, post all spending online for taxpayers to see. I know we'll get into some of the details on that, but that was, that was where the core message of my campaign Got elected in twenty twenty two and been really thrilled to be able to to deliver on a lot of that.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. Super interesting background. You're you kinda just took the bull by the horns and said, well, I think I can do it better. So that's where you are.
Andy Matthews: It's interesting, you know, some of my some of my colleagues, former colleagues in the legislature who, you know, were the ones that, you know, I guess, were those who could have helped me move a lot of those ideas forward when I was in the assembly and and chose not to. And now we're sort of sort of doing it. And, you know, I still have good relationships with them, but, it's kinda funny to to to sort of see the the fact that we've been had a chance to do it through for the executive branch, which has been exciting. But, you know, politics is is always an interesting line of work, and sometimes you get into some of the back and forth and the combative the combativeness there.
But, you know, I'm I'm just honored and and blessed to be able to to serve our state in this capacity and to be able to, I think, really move the ball forward, on some issues that aren't partisan at all. You know, I think government transparency, is an issue that I think people of all different political stripes and perspectives can agree on. And and and I think that's been borne out in the response to a lot of the stuff we've done.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. I mean, you you were in the state assembly. Now you're in the office of controller. I guess kind of just a baseline question for folks listening. Like, in Nevada, what does a controller do?
Andy Matthews: Yeah. You know, the the joke always that I I hear at different conferences I go to is, if you've seen one state financial law, because you've seen one state financial law, because they're very different. Right? So different different wherever you go.
Number one question, Elliot, that I got when I was campaigning, you know, for this office is what does the state controller do? What exactly are you in control of? Right? So for the broad strokes, you know, the the controller serves as the chief fiscal officer for the state.
You know, we manage the accounting system. We sign the checks. We process transactions on the state's behalf. We do a number of other things.
Vendor services is is one thing that's in our domain. We're involved in debt collection and a few other things.
But like I said, you know, one of the things that I've, I think, brought to the table that's a little bit u unique to me and, you know, as we've already discussed, dovetails of my background is really bringing more transparency to government spending and letting the public see more of what's going on. So one thing that's interesting in Nevada, and, again, this this is different state to state, but, you know, we have an elected treasurer and an elected controller, you know, two different offices. I think that's important because it goes to sort of checks and balances. You've got the two money offices in the hands of two different people, and, I think that's, you know, something that serves our state well.
So, it's one of the lower profile statewide offices. We have six, statewide executive branch elected offices. Some everybody knows, you know, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general. Controller is one of the lower profile ones, but I think it's a really critical function that we perform.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. And I I know that you had kinda mentioned that you you ran on a, at least, a partial platform of transparency, for folks in the state. But could you explain a little bit more around why you feel that transparency is important, why it's important for for the work that, government folks do, and why it's important for Nevadans.
Andy Matthews: Yeah. So, you know, a number of reasons. You know, the most obvious one is, you know, when we're talking about government spending, we're talking about taxpayer money.
And and, you know, my response and I get asked this a lot by citizens around the state. Why was this so important to you? And I say, let's you know, it's real simple. It's your money.
It's your money. You deserve to know how and where your, government is spending it, and I think that's, that's really important. You know, we can we can disagree all day, or have the debate all day on the issue of bigger government, smaller government, etcetera. We should all be able to agree on the on the importance of transparent and open and accountable government.
But beyond that, I Elliot, I think it does provide a good practical public service. You know, every two years, you know, Nevada's legislature meets every other year.
And that's when a lot of the media attention, you know, really focuses in on what's going on with our state government. And you have these debates, you know, between the parties or between the governor and the legislature on what we need to do fiscally. Right? Do we need to spend more money, spend less money?
Do we need to raise taxes? Do we need to not raise or perhaps even reduce taxes? And if you're a a typical citizen, if you're a layman who isn't an expert on what's going on with state government, you're hearing all this, and you it's easy to get kinda lost, in that conversation if you don't know what's already going on. You know, if you don't really have access already to good, quality, accurate, detailed information on what the state is doing with the money it already has, you're gonna be left with a lot of guesswork, I think, on, well, who's telling the truth?
Who's right? Are we spending enough money? Do we need to spend more? If you don't really know what's already happening, it's hard to form an educated opinion on that.
And so I think putting this information out there for people to see, helps to shed some light on that discussion, helps people to be a little bit more on a loop on what's happening. And I think it just it's empowering for our sitters our citizenry. They're gonna know more. They're gonna be more involved, or, you know, more informed, and then as a result, more involved, more engaged.
Because if they feel like, you know, they've got access to good quality information, they're gonna feel like there's a purpose and some kind of utility to them getting involved because they're not gonna just be flying blind on a lot of this stuff.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. And kinda like you were saying, access to the information is really just table stakes for any kind of reasoned discussion we wanna have, and ultimately figuring out, like, how everybody can kind of, dare I say it, democratize access to it or at least make it transparently available, online or however you're gonna do that.
Andy Matthews: And it's gonna be beneficial, I think, to to those who serve in government as well because, you know, I think public trust in our public in our institutions is going to go up.
In a lot of cases, it's gonna make people's lives easier. You know, what are the all of this information that we have put out, we'll talk about a little bit about the the actual project that we, launched, you know, and and and we're working with Tyler Technologies. But, all the information that's out there, you know, this is information that belongs to the public anyway. It's all subject to public records request.
And absent the state being proactive and providing that information, what ends up happening is those in state government who work in various agencies have to be reactive when a public records request comes in. And you're constantly having to to deal with that and provide that information because under the law, you have to as you should. But, you know, I I would always say, you know, think of the the busy work and call it I'll call it busy work because it doesn't makes it sound like it's it's it's superfluous, but think of kind of the a lot of the tedious work you've gotta do in complying with these requests that you can eliminate, if you've got the information out there proactively. I had a reporter, tell me, you know, when we when we launched our, online checkbook project, you know, Andy, this is gonna cut down seventy five percent of the public records request that we have to have to file.
And it just it just it's common sense. You know, I was running that organization, you know, the Nevada Policy Research Institute. We had a website that provide all kinds of information on government spending, but we had to get that that information through public records request to state agencies. And I would always just say, man, you know, why doesn't the state just do this on its own? Right? They've got the information already.
They ought to just do this without having to be asked. So I've been really, thrilled to be able to be a part of that effort to to make that happen.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. And what y'all have been able to pull together, at least thus far has been really, really great to to be a part of and to kinda watch it, grow and flourish as what I what I think is probably most interesting the the the public as well as folks in government are using it day in day out to get access to the information you were talking about.
Andy Matthews: Yeah. Absolutely. And so, if you want, I can get a little bit into what we did and and and and what that that project was that we worked with Tyler Technologies on or if you wanna, you know, say save that.
But, it's it's just all in all, it's been a great experience for us.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. No. I'd love to kinda get into it and kind of understand from your perspective, like, what what was the need? Maybe what was what were some of the decision criteria that you made in in, like, selecting whether it's provider who was in the cloud or something like that? I would really love to get your perspective there.
Andy Matthews: Yeah. So so first of all, what what we really wanted to do is we decided we wanted to create, a website that was going to provide information on on state government spending for people to see. And so we started thinking, well, what's that gonna look like? What do we want that to have?
And and, certainly, we wanted to have, you know, information on, the state budget, and we wanted, you know, things like, you know, the state checkbook, which we were able to do down to the the actual transaction level, which is great, information on payroll, pension disbursements, all of that. And this is sort of our vision for it. So, you know, what we wanted to do was find a vendor, you know, someone who could who could, work with the state, to design this. And we knew that Tyler Technologies was, you know, a company that had already had some successes in this space.
We knew that this was an area where there was a a demonstrated ability to do it. And so we looked into that and decided it was gonna be a a a really, really good match. And, you know, of course, you always want to go into something like this knowing that your partner in this is gonna be able to gonna be able to, to do it. Right?
So there was there were sort of two parts to it. We wanted to make sure that this was going to be, really user friendly, you know, something that we could put out there where the information that we provided was going to be accessible to the state, to the state's taxpayers, the the people who are gonna be using it, and also make sure that we were working with a with a a partner that had demonstrated the ability to to do it to do it well. And so we launched, the website. This went out back in February of two thousand twenty four, so just about, oh, I guess, five, six months ago now, and we call it the, Nevada Open Finance portal.
It's located online at checkbook dot n v dot gov. And, again, this is a website that that, you know, people can go to to to find out all kinds of information on, on, you know, what the state is doing with their tax dollars. And, you know, it's all about getting the right vision and then aligning it with the right solution, the right technology, the right software. And, of course, you mentioned the importance of of of the cloud and and sort of leveraging, you know, those modernizations and technology, which opens up, you know, possibilities that weren't, previously there.
It’s all about getting the right vision and then aligning it with the right solution, the right technology, the right software. And, of course, the importance of the cloud and leveraging those modernizations and technology, which opens up possibilities that weren't previously there.
Andy Matthews
Controller, State of Nevada
And I think that's important. Everything you do, I think, in a space like this, you wanna make sure that you because things change and move so quickly, you you do wanna make sure that you're remaining as much as you can on on the cutting edge. Because to come back and update something later, as we've seen with with the state's ongoing ERP. Sometimes those things in government especially can take a long time, so you wanna make sure you're at the forefront as much as you can be.
Yeah. The the more, you can invest time now to make the right decision, so you're not gonna have to either kick yourself or somebody else who sits in a seat later on is gonna be like, what? What were they thinking over there?
Elliot Flautt: Yep. That's exactly it. Well said. Well said. And one and one more thing I will one last thing I will mention is, because I kind of alluded to to the ERP, this project, the the, open checkbook or the, you know, the Nevada open finance portal, We were able to do this because it actually fit within the scope of an ongoing, ERP that the state actually began probably six, seven years ago now to basically upgrade and monitor you know, modernize its, financial and, HR systems.
Andy Matthews: So, this was something that the state was already sort of embarking upon as the state controller, and one of the, members of the executive steering committee for that overall project. And so we were able to do, you know, this this online checkbook as part of that because, it fit within the scope of of that already existing project. So for us, it was also a matter of recognizing an opportunity, you know, that what may not have been obvious, but really deciding, hey. This is something we wanna do.
Where might there be an opportunity to to do it? So we're not starting from square one and not reinventing the wheel, so to speak. And we were really excited to find out that we could actually do this as part of of something that the state was already committed to. So that was a great opportunity, but, of course, we had to recognize it and capitalize on it.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. Essentially, you're you're able to kind of know you're gonna get there eventually, but, realizing that, oh, we can we can run these things in tandem takes a little bit of a little bit of know how there, like you're saying.
Josh Henderson: Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more of The Tyler Tech Podcast.
I hope you're enjoying listening to this episode of The Tyler Tech Podcast.
I'm here with my colleague Jade Champion to talk about the importance of tech modernization.
Are you struggling to maintain your legacy systems? There might be time for a change.
Jade Champion: That's right, Josh. We just released a white paper that outlines the five main risks of legacy systems and the benefits of modernizing your digital infrastructure.
Josh Henderson: From security weaknesses to inefficiencies and high maintenance costs, legacy systems can really hold back government agencies. So what are some of the benefits of future proofing with an updated tech stack?
Jade Champion: Modern cloud-based solutions help to streamline processes, protect against cyber threats, improve the resident experience, meet compliance requirements, and provide more scalability.
Josh Henderson: Are you ready to leave your legacy systems behind and improve your digital services?
Check out our show notes for resources to help you get started and reach out to us at podcast@tylertech.com to connect with a Tyler expert today.
Now let's get back to The Tyler Tech Podcast.
Elliot Flautt: You mentioned some of the kind of decision factors you were talking about and and why you decided to procure a a cloud based technology. But what would you say are some other kind of practical steps that you've adopted in in selecting cloud technologies as you're going to deploy those within Nevada?
Andy Matthews: Yeah. Well well, we've you know, when this when the ERP project first cut off the ground, you know, years ago, we wanted to make sure that, you know, we were doing this right. And so we actually the state actually did lean on some, outside consultants to sort of, you know, assess what our in state fill up, you know, capabilities were going to be, help us sort of chart the the right course that we needed to be on for an implementation like this, you know, making sure that, you know, we knew, who the various, stakeholders were going to be and who is gonna have some skin in the game on this and making sure that we had the right, you know, HR capabilities to be able to, to do all of this.
And so and then I think that's that's critical and it's something that may be easy to overlook. But anytime you're starting on a project like this, you really do wanna come at it from kind of a a holistic perspective and make sure that you really go into it, with a plan and with a real understanding of, you know, what your state's needs are, but also what your state's current, capabilities are and really sort of doing a an in-depth a thorough a thorough evaluation of what your resources are, knowing what you need to do, what you can bring to the table already, but where you may be lacking as a state in terms of resources.
That's something that was obviously critical in terms of the the overall, you know, one like I said, modernization that we're doing of the the state's financial and HR services. But that certainly guided us with the with the, open checkbook as well. You know, what is the state already doing, and, you know, what are some of the practices that we're already, you know, implementing or using or relying upon that would that can be adopted for what, you know, for what we're gonna do and for this new territory. But where are the areas where we may be lacking?
Where do you have to bring in outside help? Where we have to sort of make our own modernizations before we're ready to walk down a road like this? So I think really going on really going in clear eyed as to where you stand and what your strengths and weaknesses are before you get too far down the road in a project like this and realize that, you know, maybe we're coming at this wrong, maybe we've put off more than we, you know, more than we can choose. So I think doing that sort of self evaluation is critical.
And and you bring whatever resources you need to bring to bear on that is something that I think we were very diligent about, and certainly we continue to do. We advise anybody to do that if you're thinking of going down a road like this.
Elliot Flautt: Yeah. I mean, I know that there's always, at least in in many circles that I've I've talked in, there's always a desire to, you know, kinda move fast and experiment with something. But with some of these larger, implementations like you're talking about, especially with the ERP at a state level, Understanding where you are and where you're gonna go, is gonna be crucial because I think that, like, any big ERP project, it's gonna be years long. And you have to be able to know where you are in terms of milestones you've set so that you're not just gonna sit in there three years later being like, what are we doing?
Andy Matthews: Yep. And you need to be there's there's a lot that, I mean, that that that's exactly right. And you need to also know I I would say this this sort of two mindsets that they they may sound like they're in friction, but they're really not. I don't think.
I mean, you you've gotta have the vision of of knowing where you need to go and and starting out by really, like I said, being thorough in terms of, you know, choosing the right product, choosing the right partner, the right vendor, and knowing what it is you need to accomplish and setting up those milestones. At the same time, you also need to, be aware that there are going to be things that will pop up that, were unforeseen. Right? I mean, none of us are perfect.
None of us are all knowing and can anticipate every, you know, need that may arise or every, challenge that the state may encounter. And so you've gotta sort of have the right the right balance of develop having a plan and being willing to to stick with it and be faithful to it, but also understand at the same time, you've gotta have at least a little bit of flexibility where you're not too doggedly or too rigidly committed to something where if circumstances change, you're not willing to adjust where it's necessary. Right? And that's that's hard.
That's a hard thing to do sometimes because, you you know, like I said, they kinda seem like they're in friction. And on the one hand, you can be tempted to say, well, this is the way we decide what we're gonna do, and we gotta stick with that.
But sometimes that that does become untenable.
As a member of the of the executive steering committee for this, and and the other it's a three person committee, and the other two are appointees of the governor, the head of the department administration, and the head of the governor's office of finance. You know, I think the the three of us work well together, and we meet regular, and we talk regularly.
And I think that's absolutely critical because I think that's how you're going to be able to identify, where are those areas where you may be vulnerable that you didn't realize you were before. And, you know, where's an area where you may need to kinda call an audible, you know, to use a football term? And and, you know, we thought we were gonna do it this way, and maybe we're not going to. And and if you have a leadership team that's kinda hands off and just isn't engaged in the project, you can run the risk of being kinda blind to some of the risks and the challenges that might, arise in the course of the project's implementation where a a change, of course, really is called for.
So it it's not and it's not easy. You know? You've got you've gotta try to find that balance of, being committed to your plan but flexible enough and, you know, where you adjust when you need to. But, also, hopefully, having that wisdom and the humility to be able to say you know, the with the wisdom to be able to say, okay.
Is are are we good on our current course, or do we have to change gears and the humility to say, maybe I don't know the answer to that, and maybe I've gotta lean on some others involved in the project to start asking some questions before I can come to those answers.
Elliot Flautt: There's there's a I think it's a Thomas Edison quote that I I really like saying at least in moments like that, like, I haven't failed. I've just found a thousand ways and haven't worked yet.
Andy Matthews: Yeah. Yeah. The the the one I always think there's another one too. It's, I forget who said it, but it's, it's yeah. It's I I never, I never fail.
I either succeed or I learn or something like that. You know? It's same thing. Right?
Same, same general point. So Yeah. Look. If with something like this, it's a massive undertaking.
There's a lot on the line, and you gotta take it very, very seriously. So I know a lot of states are in a similar situation. I think, you know, when I go to talk to some of my colleagues around the country, and I I see them a couple times here at conferences, I know a lot of states are in a similar boat, and they're trying to, modernize their own systems. And I know it's a heavy lift, and I'm very, you know, obviously, very sensitive to that.
But we've got a good team working on it here in Nevada. You know, it we've there's always bumps in the road. We've hit ours. Like I said, I I've been in office now for about a year and a half.
This project started, you know, about six years ago. So, in the original plan, I think, was that it was gonna be implemented by now, and and, obviously, it isn't. And so that tells you right there that things didn't go exactly according to plan. But, you know, that's okay.
You know, sometimes you you reset. You know, you just you learn from what may have happened before that wasn't quite ideal, and you you try to do your best going forward. I'm I'm confident in where we are now. I think we've got a good team, and I think it's gonna end up being a a great, great product, a great result, a great road forward for for our state.
Elliot Flautt: Looking forward to seeing seeing the results of that. I know that you like you said, you got a great team doing it. This isn't really, like, the purview of the conversation, but I'm I'm curious about something that you just said around, the executive steering committee. And you used the word humility in leadership, and that's not something that I hear often that, you know, people are actually concerned about when making decisions.
Do you have any examples of where that's that's kind of come through? I'm just kinda curious, like, why why that word? Because it's kind of interesting.
Andy Matthews: As an elected official, right, as someone who who campaigns and someone who's in the political realm, You know, it's easy. It's tempting to and you see this with a lot of people who are who are in public life to to think that because, you know, you've obtained some certain level of success in that particular arena or, you know, large numbers of people have have voted for you to to say, well, you know, I must I really must be something else here. But I think the best thing that anyone can bring to any position, but probably especially in public light, is a sense of humility, by which I mean just being able to say, look.
I don't have all the answers. You know? I I've got principles, and I've got ideas, and I've got things that I know I'm I'm able to do well and able to bring to my position and bring to the the state and and a and a level of public service I'm able to provide, but none of us are are all knowing. Right?
And even if you're part of a leadership team on a project, that doesn't mean you're gonna have all the answers on on that project. And I think this is this is true anywhere, you know, whether it's the, you know, the basketball coach that that pulls, his assistant coach aside and and says, you know, what what play do you think we ought to run coming out of this next time out? Or or a general, you know, on the field of battle who, you know, goes to some of his her subordinates and says, you know, what do you think we, what do you think we ought to do here? I lean on on our staff, you know, on on my team.
I've got a great, smart, hardworking chief deputy. His name is James Smack. He actually served, in, the controller's office under my predecessor's predecessor, has a lot of institutional knowledge, knows a lot about what goes on in this office, and has some experience with this this particular project. And so for me, you know, if we're in a meeting, of the executive, you know, leadership team and there's a decision we need to make and it's on the table.
I think humility means sometimes saying, you know what? I I know the question that's in front of us. I know we need to make a decision on this, but I feel like I need to educate myself a little bit more. You know, I don't feel like I've got in my own brain at this moment, you know, all of the information that I need to make the best decision I can.
And, you know, rather than faking it because you don't wanna look like you're you're not as knowledgeable as as you should be being able to say, you know, I I wanna ask some questions of some others either in my office or elsewhere who may know more about this particular topic, this particular question we're dealing with than I do, and and not being afraid to say that. And and then you go to, you know, your your number two in your office or or someone else in the office who may have some particular technical expertise, you know, related to the particular question that you're considering.
The worst thing you could do, I think, is to sort of allow a sense of hubris or self, assuredness, you know, overconfidence, or even just pride to say, you know, well, I've gotta feel like I've got the answers. I'm just gonna make this decision. Sometimes that's fine if you're confident, you know, that that you've got the right answer. But being able to say, look.
We got a lot of smart people around me in a lot of ways, many ways, you know, a lot smarter than I am. And being able to say, I'm gonna pick that person's brain or this person's brain so I can make sure I make the best best decision possible. I think we need more of that in government to begin with, but it's it's that's a mindset that I've really tried to bring with me to this project to say, you know, don't feel like you gotta make all these decisions on your own. Take advantage of the the wealth of information that's that's in the knowledge of the people who are are around you.
And I think that's that's helped us, that's really served me well, I think, in this particular leadership role in this project.
Elliot Flautt: Well, thank thank you for, diving down that rabbit hole with me. It's it's kinda fascinating always to hear.
Andy Matthews: Yeah. No. It's a great great question. I'm glad you asked. Yeah.
Elliot Flautt: Well, bringing us back, kind of towards, I would say, the the present, as it relates to technology and more of kind of the the future, what are some of the opportunities you see for the controller's office in Nevada going forward, to build on some of the newer technologies, that you're investing in?
Andy Matthews: Yeah. You know, I I think one of the things, you know, just to kinda go back to where we started on the, on the open checkbook, you know, I think that what we've been able to do has been a great a great service for the state.
But, you know, our purview, my purview as the state controller is limited to is limited to state spending. One of the things I'm really looking at is trying to figure out how to get some of our local governments to kind of follow suit and do their own transparency projects the way that the way that we have. You know? A lot of the power in Nevada and in Nevada's government is actually, is actually vested in local government.
Our counties in particular, have have a lot of power. A lot of the money in our state is actually spent at the county level. And so I think if, you know, if you're a citizen, you're you're saying, well, this is great that we've got information on state spending there, but I'd really like to see what's going on with my county or, you know, my, my city or my school district. We know what's happening with spending there.
And a lot of these local governments may not have the, the knowledge, especially some of our smaller our smaller counties here in Nevada. You know, they may not really know, how to do this. They may not even know that it's possible to do this, and a lot of them may not have the the resources to be able to, embark on a project like what we've done with the open checkbook.
So one of the things that I've been looking at, Elliot, is, well, how can we, at the state level, without getting involved in in in dictating? Because we certainly can't, first of all, can't do that, but wouldn't want to do that. I would I have no desire to start going into local governments and saying, this is what you guys, you know, need to do. But what I what I see an opportunity to do is to go to some of them and say, hey. Look. We've done this at the state level.
It's been hugely beneficial. The public response has been great. The response from the press has been really good too.
We wanna help you. We wanna facilitate you and your efforts if you're interested in doing this to to provide the same service at at the local level. And I think that's an area that I'm excited about looking forward is, you know, it's much easier for a state, you know, with the resources we have to do something like this. For a lot of our local governments, it may be harder, because they may they may just be not not as up to speed as the state is in terms of tech, tech you know, technological, capabilities right now. But doing what we can to to help them kinda bridge that gap, figure out where they can go to get those resources.
I think that's an area when I look sort of to the next couple of years down the road, that I think we can we can really expand on on some of the successes that we've had. And there's a, you know, there's a lot more, you know, that can be, that can be done.
But I I I think the last thing I would say on that is is as we look at what the state does going forward, and I'll bring this back to what's going on with the ERP ERP and and the the the modernization that we're doing, which is gonna be great, of course, for state, state employees, the ones that use the system. But we also need to keep in mind, sort of the the outward facing, facets of this.
Those that have sort of a public interfacing. So you've got the the internal financial and HR systems, which is what, you know, state employees certainly use. But then you've got public facing services, like, to the DMV or different social services or, unemployment, things like that, where members of the public are are using those systems. And so as those different services modernize, not only is the experience gonna be enhanced for the state employees to have to work with that system, you're gonna be doing a great service to the public by, you know, making sure that the public experience for, you know, those who use those services, in that, like, in that public facing way, that's going to be, greatly enhanced because, you know, ultimately, the that's why you have government.
Right? We're we're here to sort of serve the public, especially at the state and local level, to provide some of those key services. And so, you know, as we modernize, keeping in mind that, yes, we wanna make sure that all of this better serve the state employees who use these these services and use these systems to make sure that members of the public who fund all of these after all are gonna be better served. And I think, keeping an eye on that and making sure that that's really, you know, front of mind, as we do all of this is gonna be something that's really critical.
Elliot Flautt: Well, thank you for, for sharing that. I'm excited to see what, transparency looks like in Nevada in the next few years. I mean, I think providing not just a state view, but county views is gonna be really interesting to help engage with different, localities and jurisdictions across the state.
Well, before we close, are there is there any, advice or tidbits you'd like to give to anybody who's embarking on a digital services project or a technology modernization product project?
Andy Matthews: Yeah. I I think you know, and I we sort of touched on this before, but I think, I think the the two critical components is, you know, know yourself, and then know your partner, who it is you're you're you're working with. You know, really make sure that you are serious about assessing where you are today as a state, what your needs are, what your needs are going to be, you know, where your your, shortcomings may be, and just really, you know, conducting a a thorough self critical analysis of where you are as a state.
And as best you can, try to anticipate different challenges that that that may come up, in the course of something. And then and then on the other on the other side to that is, you know, making sure that as you consider, you know, what service provider you're gonna work with, you know, what vendor are you gonna use, just making sure that that you ask all the right questions and you're you're really, thorough again about making sure that it's gonna be the right the right fit for your state and and what other projects have they worked on. You know, like I said, they're one of the reasons that Tyler Technologies was such a great fit for us.
So we we were confident about that with the online checkbook because, you know, we we knew that there was a track record there and a very good one, which gave us a lot of confidence going in. So knowing what your needs are and really making sure that you are, honest about, you know, you know, or or very diligent about making sure that you find the the partner in that project that that's gonna be the, the right fit for you. You do that. You know, that's that's not a guarantee that everything's gonna be smooth sailing, but I think those are two of the biggest pieces to it.
And if you get that right and really take the time to get it right, I think you're gonna put yourself in a in a great position to succeed.
Elliot Flautt: Well, I hope that serves as some good advice for folks considering these projects and that, we can all learn from, experiences like that.
Well, thank you again for your time, Andy. Looking forward to chatting soon at some point. But with that, I think we're out.
Andy Matthews: Alright. Thanks so much. It was my pleasure.
Josh Henderson: And that's all for today's episode. We hope you enjoyed this conversation between Elliot Flautt and Andy Matthews. If you'd like to learn more about the topics discussed throughout the episode, check out our show notes for more resources.
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